A string of gun violence left four dead and three injured in Cleveland over the weekend.
Police say this year alone they have recovered 200 illegal guns, 11 just last week. Police say these shootings are persistent because these teens are getting their hands on guns -- illegally on the street.
UPDATE: Three charged in slaying of Cleveland State University professor after violent weekend
In a Monday press conference, while noting that this weekends shootings were a tragic event, Mayor Frank Jackson also touched on the number of incidents investigators have been able to prevent. The Special Operations chief mentioned the riot at the IX center as an example. He said that the departments Gang Impact Unit were able to arrest 3 teens carrying an illegal weapon.
He went on to say had that arrest not taken place, he believes another shooting would've occurred. Mayor Jackson says the state is partly to blame for infringing on the city's home rule. "Our ability to control things on a local level has been tremendously hampered... Right now assault weapons are legal in the city of Cleveland, before they were not" said Mayor Jackson.
The city says gun shows are big contributors to firearms getting in the hands of teens. We also heard from Cleveland's police chief Calvin Williams who urged the community, particularly, family and friends of those involved to come forward with any information.
East 75th & Kinsman
Shell casings lined the street after people in two cars shot at each other in front of a grocery store at East 75th and Kinsman Road Sunday.
The shooting continued just a block away on Charles Carr Avenue where four people were shot.
Police say a 17-year-old and 19-year-old were killed. It's believed they were riding in a car. Two other men were also shot and rushed to the hospital.
"Two or three of them might have been juveniles so we have these young people that are wounded and there was a car that left out of here with shooters in it and we still don't know where they're at," said community activist Khalid Samad.
Samad went to the scene after the shootings to console emotional relatives of the victims.
Woodland Avenue
Sunday’s shootings came just a day after another shootout between cars on nearby Woodland Avenue.
A bystander driving down the street was caught in the crossfire and killed near East 89th street. He was later identified as 61-year-old David Wilder.
Two other people were shot East 79th and Woodland Avenue, including a 15-year-old boy who later died from his injuries.
Samad believes the shooting sprees are gang-related and the gunmen are not thinking of the consequences.
"What we have is a culture of violence that is based upon what I would call the disease, the culture of the heartless felons, most of these young people are acting out in ways that are insane and pathological, so we have to find some way to re-educate, deconstruct this madness that is in their minds," Samad said.
As investigators and crime scene technicians try to piece together the shootings and who is responsible, Samad tries to think of ways to stop the violence.
"We've got to teach these young people that robbing each other, killing each other, murdering each other, there's nothing normal about that, it's worse than an animal," Samad said.
Arrests
Three people were arrested Sunday for the death of Wilder, the bystander in the Woodland Avenue shooting. Kassius Williams, 18, Charles Walker, 26, and Terrell Gray, 25, were all charged with aggravated murder.
According to court records, the three men were riding in a black Volkswagen westbound on Woodland Avenue, alongside a Saturn Vue, which was carrying the other shooting victims. Wilder was hit by a stray bullet while inside his car and killed.
